Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Fitting

We will start out this time with a series of images showing the work today for a new door for our 1851 C&GU (C&NW) depot.  I think it was still C&GU in 1851.  John Faulhaber fits an internal stile to the door bottom.  Careful work, fussy work, completed work.

More Fitting

Meanwhile Paul Cronin works to fit a similar member to the top rail of the door.

Routing

Then the overall frame was dry assembled and Paul and John proceeded to cut large chamfer 'scallops' for the members abutting the inside panels.  This was a common design element on doors of the period and can be found on some of the very old doors in the depot today.

Results Count

Paul and John proudly show off the results of their work near the end of the day.  This eight foot tall door is getting very HEAVY!  The four openings will receive raised panel inserts since it is to be solid exterior door.

Panels

No sooner than the door frame was assembled for final fitting did Paul and Jim Foraker lay out and start jointing and ripping the stock for the panels.  It can be quite a puzzle solving exercise.  The raw lumber is purchased in random lengths and widths as is common for hardwood lumber.  We always try to have sufficient stock for the job, but the challenge is to get all the best pieces for those boards and make the most efficient use of the lumber.

The Earlier Doors

Kirk Warner was visiting from Florida and gave a big boost to the doors we have made earlier for Chicago Great Western X 38, as he sanded  and primed both sides, touching up the woodwork along the way.  He got custom glass cut and he and Victor Humphreys finished glazing more of the windows for the cupola cab.

Windows

Meanwhile, Jim Leonard, Rich Witt, and Dave Rogan were at work for the very fancy round top windows we are making for Boston & Maine 1094.  Here they are at work on the router table profiling one of the bottom rails.  Once the stock is cut to the proper size the next work includes a roundover beading in the profile and creating a rabbet to accept the glass.

Tricky Profiling

The same profile must be created for the rest of the sash frame, including the round top and sides.  Rich and Dave made use of many jigs and templates to accomplish the work.  Here you may see some of the result, and by days end all that was done to satisfaction on both windows.

Drop Sash

Henry Vincent was seen stripping decades of old paint from a door drop sash for Chicago Aurora & Elgin 36.  There is never a shortage of work and more parts to restore.  We often work on many elements at a time for productive volunteer efforts or when one small step is accomplished and there is more time left in the day.

Steel Door Panel

Welcome to volunteer Jonathan Soucek who is a grandson of Henry Vincent.  Here he is stripping paint from a steel panel, removed for restoration from CA&E 36.

Motor Work

Jim Foraker was working on reassembly of the AC motor to drive a new table saw for our wood shop.  This effort has been going along piecemeal for several weeks as time allows.  The popular book "Motors for Dummies" does not seem to cover three phase motors that are over a century old.

Handwheels

Jonathoan also pitched in by applying some finish paint to the handwheels to be used on the new table saw.